Accused drug dealer at East Boston senior building has a record that spans nearly 50 years, DA says

Robert Ciampi, 63, arrested on several drug-dealing charges at the Victory Gardens senior-citizen apartment complex in East Boston last week, is not an unfamiliar person to Boston detectives: He has a record of arrests and convictions since 1975 - when he was just 15 - the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.

In 2012, Ciampi pleaded guilty to his possession of heroin with intent to distribute and conspiracy for his role as a drug-delivery guy for reputed Boston mobster Mark Rossetti.

As part of a plea deal, Ciampi acknowledged he would pick up heroin at Rossetti's Salem home, then deliver them to street-level drug dealers. Police who went to Rossetti's home to arrest him found Ciampi hiding in a closet.

Later, Ciampi opened the 300 Saratoga Cafe in East Boston, which was the second restaurant in Boston to get a license to let patrons bring their own beer and wine - and where he would hold forth on his desire to have the KKK come back to Boston.

Police say his arrest last week came after an investigation over several months by drug-unit officers in both East Boston and District E-5, which covers West Roxbury and part of Roslindale. Police say that in addition to arresting Ciampi, officers seized seized 242 grams of fentanyl, 65 grams of cocaine, 13 grams of crack, 15 pounds of marijuana, hallucinogenic mushrooms and roughly $8,000 in cash.

At his arraignment on charges of trafficking of Class A drugs, trafficking of Class B drug, possession of Class B drugs with intent to distribute and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, East Boston Municipal Court Judge Debra DelVecchio ordered bail set at $5,000 - with the condition that Ciampi stay at home, except between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., when he is allowed to travel to a job in Maine. He also has to forswear personal consumption of drugs and alcohol and give up his passport pending the outcome of his case.

Innocent, etc.